Equity Trustee extends Trust offer for third time


Equity Trustees (EQT) will extend the closing period for its take-over offer for The Trust Company to 30 September, citing its revised offer to Trust and a pending review of a counter-offer as reasons for the extension.
In a statement released to the Australian Stock Exchange, EQT said its revised offer had been examined in two meetings with Ernst and Young, acting as an independent expert for Trust company, with Trust yet to respond to the offer.
Trust and EQT were also waiting on the outcome of an Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) review into a counter-offer for Trust from Perpetual, with the ACCC indicating it would release either a final decision or Statement of Issues on 1 August.
The previous closing period to accept EQT's offer for Trust was 31 July and has been extended on a number of previous occasions as EQT awaited regulatory approval, examined Perpetual's counter-offer and made its own revised offer.
EQT's initial offer was made on 21 February this year with a closing date of 6 May, which was first extended to 5 June, then to 31 July and most recently to 30 September.
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